Arch Madness!!

While that could possibly be the most annoying slogan I've ever heard, the MVC tournament gets underway in earnest today, and for anyone who gives a crap about the NCAA tournament, its definitely worth paying attention. As much as I hate all the love the MVC is getting this year, its really nice to have basketball that means something on TV (FSN) during my Friday afternoon, in case I'd make my lunch break a little longer than usual. What's even better is that if Creighton got knocked out today, they may have played themselves out of the NCAA tournmanet. This is just a little taste of what's coming. Next Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the following Thursday-Friday are just blissful.

The bracket

The Schedule

12:05: #1 Wichita St. vs. #9 Indiana St.
2:35: #4 Creighton vs. #5 Bradley
6:05: #2 Southern Illinois vs. #7 Evansville
8:35: #3 Missouri St. vs. #6 UNI

Oh, and if you really don't give a crap about that, but still want something to make your afternoon fly by, there's Husker Baseball against Notre Dame, coverage starting on Pinnacle at 11:45.

Were you really surprised?

Ever since a couple weeks ago, when it looked like Nebraska had climbed back on the bubble with an improbable win at Iowa State, I pointed to the KSU game at home as one that looked like the classic NU letdown game. The one game left on the schedule that looks like a gimme. You can always bank on Nebraska basketball following up an improbable win with an improbable loss.

In any case, its now worth looking at the standings to guage potential Big XII tournament matchups, if for no other reason than figuring out whether you'll need to take off work.

After Wednesday's games, all conference teams have exactly one game remaining:

Sat: KU @ KSU, aTm @ TT, ISU @ CU, Bay @ OSU
Sun: OU @ Tex, NU @ Mizz

Depending on the outcome of those games, Nebraska can land anywhere from the 5th seed to the 9th seed in Dallas.

Here's what each of those scenarios would look like:

NU gets the 5th Seed: If they beat Missouri and Colorado loses at home to Iowa State.
If this happens: Nebraska would turn around and face Missouri again at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday on ESPN+/ESPNU. If they win, they'd get a shot at aTm again at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.

NU gets the 6th Seed: If they beat Missouri and Colorado beats Iowa State OR if Nebraska loses to Missouri and Iowa St., Texas Tech and Kansas St. all lose their games this weekend.
If this happens: Nebraska would face Baylor at approximately 8:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2. If they win, they'd face the team that loses this Sunday's Oklahoma/Texas game, as that team will get the 3 seed.

NU gets the 7th Seed: If they lose to Missouri and one and only one of the following teams--Texas Tech, Kansas St., Iowa St.--win their game this weekend.
If this happens: Nebraska could face Oklahoma St., Kansas St. or Texas Tech at 6:00 on Thursday on ESPNU/ESPN+. If they would win, they'd have Kansas in the second round. Woo hoo!

NU gets the 8th Seed: If they lose to Missouri and two and only two of the following teams--Texas Tech, Kansas St., Iowa St.--win their game this weekend.
If this happens: Nebraska could face Iowa St., Kansas St. or Texas Tech at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday on ESPNU/ESPN+. If they win, they'd get the Texas/OU winner on Friday.

NU gets the 9th Seed: If they lose to Missouri and Texas Tech, Kansas St. and Iowa St. all win their games this weekend:
If this happens: Nebraska wold face Iowa ST. at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday on ESPNU/ESPN+. If they win, they'd get the Texas/OU winner on Friday.

Remaining Spots: The 2/28 Update

Sure Single-Bid Conferences:

1. MAAC (Iona/Manhattan)
2. Big Sky (Northern Arizona/Montana)
3. Ohio Valley (Murray St.)
4. Southland (Northwestern St.)
5. Big South (Winthrop)
6. Southern (Georgia Southern)
7. Ivy (Penn)
8. Big West (Pacific)
9. Northeast (Fairliegh-Dickinson)
10. America East (Albany)
11. Mid-Continent (IUPUI)
12. Atlantic sun (Lipscomb/Belmont)
13. MEAC (Deleware St.)
14. SWAC (Southern)
15. Horizon (Wis-Mil)
16. MAC (Akron)

The next two spots are a little tricky. Both Bucknell and WKU will be right on the bubble if they lose in their conference tournaments, especially in the championship. Thus, I'll list them as their conference favorite, but also put them on the bubble.

17. Sun Belt (Western Kentucky)
18. Patriot (Bucknell)

Then there are the teams that have already sewn up a bid, but are the only teams in their conferences that have done so. If these teams do not win their Conference Tournaments, they'll still be in, but there will be one less bubble spot available due to the automatic bid.

19. Gonzaga (West Coast)
20. George Mason (Colonial)
21. Memphis (C-USA)
22. George Washington (A-10)
23. Nevada (WAC)

Then, the teams from sure multi-bid conferences that have wrapped up their spot:

24. Illinois
25. Indiana
26. Wisconsin
27. Michigan St.
28. Ohio St.
29. Michigan
30. Villanova
31. Pitt
32. UCONN
33. WVU
34. Georgetown
35. Marquette
36. Duke
37. Boston College
38. NC State
39. North Carolina
40. Florida
41. Tennessee
42. LSU
43. Alabama
44. Texas
45. Oklahoma
46. Kansas
47. UNI
48. Wichita St.
49. Missouri St.
50. UCLA
51. Arizona
52. Washington

So now, we've only got 13 spots remaining. Here are the teams currently on the bubble vying for those spots:

Indiana
Cincy
Syracuse
Seton Hall
Florida St.
Kentucky
Arkansas
Colorado
aTm
Southern Illinois
Creighton
Bradley
Cal
Air Force
SDSU
BYU
Utah St.
UAB
Houston
UTEP
UNC-Wilmington
Hofstra

That's 22 teams for 13 spots.